AI (Artificial Intelligence)

The unethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in the development of Career Documents

At Resumes for Results, we believe that AI has led to major changes across our service industry. Computer-savvy people are free to develop their own career documents without relying on professional writing services such as ours. They think they are saving money and time. The issue is that job applicants will be competing against other candidates who use the same AI tools to enhance their application content. Using AI in the career application workspace is not something we consider to be particularly ethical. You may be putting yourself at a disadvantage. Employers and recruiters often receive many applications with similar content generated through online sources. They are becoming more adept at recognising this automated text in documents that are coming across their desks, often choosing to eliminate them for that reason, despite how well the person might fit the job parameters. Some documents are identified as AI through well-known writing patterns (think m-dashes!) while others are flagged via tech apps. Any content that seems to read as robotic, formulaic, too technical or overly descriptive runs the risk of being automatically excluded during the job advertiser’s culling process.

Many organisations have established strict AI policies and procedures to handle this contentious issue in a practical sense during their recruitment procedures. AI can become a huge waste of everyone’s time from both sides of the recruiting table. We believe that there is no substitute for working alongside an experienced Career Consultant who can lead the development process with Clients for resumes, cover letters or more comprehensive documents required for selection purposes.

Standing out for all the right reasons is critical. We strongly feel that there is no need for our Career Consultants to use any AI applications, as our own career experiences have given us wide exposure to most Australian industries, and we can request information directly from our clients to flesh out the text with their unique examples and industry jargon. Many Clients have used AI to build relevant content before coming to us, and they then pass these documents on for further personalisation. In that event, Clients need to be aware that RFR do not accept any responsibility for any applications we are involved with from being rejected on the basis of being AI generated. This is outside our scope of responsibility, as mentioned on page 1 of the Client Services Agreement (CSA).

All efforts will be made to revise any AI-flagged text presented to RFR, to highlight each Client’s experience and achievements without sounding like a robot. Final written compositions crafted by RFR will always honestly reflect each Client’s distinctive career history and skill set to grab the interest of the employer. Great care is taken by RFR’s Career Consultants for the content of bespoke resumes, cover letters and Key Selection Criteria (KSC) responses to be tailored for application suitability and to be developed by a writing professional, not an app.

If you become a paying client of RFR’s writing services, you will be asked to acknowledge the following:

*While I understand that AI content can be used to improve the flow, readability and functionality of my existing career documents to compete against other applicants, I am aware that this can also put my application at a disadvantage if the recruiter/job advertiser realises this, and chooses to discount me as a suitable candidate on that basis.

*I accept that if I have used AI to create any of the content in my documents that I provided to the RFR representative, I am still solely responsible for the application’s outcome. RFR does not accept any responsibility for application penalties that are given to job applicants for any reason.

If you are interested in discussing how to compete with other applicants without using AI, please contact our Career Consultants at enquiries@resumes.net.au